Forever
by Sarah August
Summary: Elijah steps in and corrects a wrong in S4. Upon hearing that Elena will refuse the cure, he take it upon himself to ensure that she takes it anyway. Elena is faced with different choices and the possibility of a different future. Will that future lead her to Stefan? Short story based mostly on S4 and S5. AU. POV.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Forever

Summary: 4/23 AU, how it should have went. Stelena.

Author: Sarah August

"Elena, I understand that you refused to take the cure. I thought that you wanted to become human again, more than anything. What changed your mind?"

Elijah studied her face, and somehow he knew the answer immediately. It was Damon's influence that changed her mind. After the self destructive, murderous behaviour that Elena had been giving into for the last several weeks, Damon would actually encourage her to remain a vampire when it was clear that Elena couldn't handle being one.

"I love Damon, Elijah," Elena started simply. "I can't be with him if I'm human. He doesn't want me if I become human. So, what other choice do I have?"

Elijah watched Elena carefully, before quickly deciding the real reason for Elena's change of heart. "Damon broke your sire bond, did he not, Elena?"

Elena blinked as if Elijah had just said the stupidest thing in the world. "Of course he did. Weeks ago. But I love him still, and I want to be with him. I want to tell Stefan tonight, and give him back the cure."

"I thought that you and Stefan would have lasted forever, Elena," Elijah tested her again softly.

"I loved Stefan, but being with Damon makes me happy. I fell in love with Damon, and I know it's crazy considering the past, but I want to be with him," Elena gushed.

"You want to be with Damon, because it makes you happy?"

"I'm happy when Damon is. Can't anyone understand something so simple?" Elena said back, again, sounding as if Elijah's argument was ridiculous.

"Elena, Damon was the one that told you that you could break the sire bond, is that right?"

Elena froze, not liking the sound of where this was going. "Hey, Elijah, you're my friend, but I'm not going to let you turn me against Damon. I love him, and I want to be with him."

Elena moved to leave, and Elijah sped in front of Elena, blocking her way. "I wish that I could believe that, Elena. But you see, Damon lied to you. He lied to all of you. There is no way to break the sire bond between two vampires. It lasts forever."

Elena stared up at him, dumbstruck. Before she could react, Elijah moved in a flash and broke her neck., letting the doppelganger fall to the floor of the Salvatore house. He then reached into the pocket of her dress, pulling free the cure for vampirism.

He stopped to think of his beloved Katerina and his sister Rebekah. Both women wanted it for two very good, very different reasons, and he owed his loyalty to the both of them. But the woman, the young vampire at his feet, needed to be free of this curse more than any vampire he knew.

Why? Because he believed that Elena could still be redeemed.

Elijah, decided, then lowered himself over Elena's body, and force-fed the cure down her throat.

Once the deed was done, Elijah realized they were no longer alone. Damon and Stefan Salvatore stared at Elijah, shocked to see him here, and even more shocked to realize that he had just did the one thing that changed everything for them. Stefan, relief settled over his face, and he hurried to Elena's side.

Damon stared daggers at Elijah. "I'll never forget what you just did." He hissed.

"I evened the playing field, Damon," Elijah replied back, his voice hard. "Now it will be interesting to know who Elena chooses to be with, now that she will have the ability again to make her own decisions." Elijah then exited the house, leaving Elena alone with the Salvatore's.

Elena then began to wake, and Damon left the house, fearing her reaction to him.

"Elena?" Stefan said softly, cupping her face in his hands.

"Stefan!" She cried, remembering what Elijah had just done. Elena hugged Stefan fiercely, trying not to cry.

"I'm so sorry, Elena," Stefan whispered.

Elena blinked away her tears, trying to forget the knowledge of what Damon had done. Trying to forget that despite her love for him being a mere delusion, she still bore a heavily broken heart by his betrayal.

"I loved him," She admitted to Stefan softly. "Or, I thought I did. The sire bond, he never broke it, Stefan. He lied to keep us apart. I was going to choose him, Stefan. I wanted to be with him."

Stefan grimly pulled Elena, a now very human Elena, into his arms. He should be happy right now. The girl he lost, the girl he loved, was back. But she was different too. This girl had believed herself in love with Damon, and she was hurting because it hadn't been real. It had been a trick to hold onto the facade of their new relationship.

Would Elena decide that the lie was better than what they had shared once? Would she decide that she was too heartbroken to be without Damon anyway? Those were Stefan's fears now. Would he get the girl, his very human Elena back, to only lose her to Damon anyway?

"Be with me," Stefan breathed into her hair suddenly.

Elena pulled back from Stefan, shocked he'd even say that now. Could he really still feel the same way about her? "Stefan..." She whispered, overcome by her feelings.

"I know I'm not him. I know things happened that separated us, but we can move forward, Elena. I love you," Stefan admitted softly, with complete sincerity. "I have always loved you. You're the love of my life, and if you give me the chance, I know that I can be yours."

Elena cupped Stefan's face and pulled him close. "You already were mine, Stefan. I love you. But..."

Stefan pulled away slightly. "Damon..." He said for her.

"Yes. And no. I believed what I felt for him was real. It still hurts, Stefan. It hurts that he lied, that he would expect me to give up what I really wanted, to live in this lie with him..."

"What do you really want, Elena?" He asked, his voice low, sad.

"You. To turn back time, and never let you leave me after that kiss, before I died. I knew in that moment that you were the one, Stefan. With no hesitation. It was so perfect. But then everything fell apart... before we could enjoy that complete certainty, that complete bliss... it was all stolen from us."

"Do you still feel something for Damon?" Stefan dared to press.

"I did," Elena admitted guiltily. "Just an hour ago, I believed I was madly in love with Damon. Despite everything, despite him being the worst choice for me, I really believed it. I was ready to give him my all. But now, I know this happened for a reason. I wasn't meant to be with Damon. I was meant to be with you, Stefan. But..." She stopped, crying now.

"But what, Elena?" He urged her.

"But were back, right to the start...the very start, Stefan. You're still a vampire, and I'm..."

"I don't care about that, Elena. If you want to stay human, then you will, and I will be with you, for as long as you'll have me..." Stefan vowed. He would not let time stand between them.

"You say that now... But I'll get old, Stefan..."

"I'll be frozen, just like this," Stefan shot back.

"But Damon didn't want me like this... he wanted me to stay a vampire... you'll want that too..."

"That's why you wouldn't take the cure..." Stefan whispered, horror struck. "He could have helped you end all of this sooner, and he didn't..."

Elena bit her lip and looked away from Stefan. ""I can't believe I was such a fool... I should have known that nothing really changed..."

"Elena," Stefan said, gathering her close to him, standing her up right. "I know this, all of this, isn't what you had been expecting, but it will get better. You can go to college, Elena. You can get your life back again."

"I meant what I said, Stefan. I do love you," Elena vowed.

"I love you," He breathed, smiling, happy to hear her say it. "But you need to do this. You need to find out who you are, _Elena Gilbert. _Take this chance, Elena. I'll be here, when you're ready. I'll be here, even if you decide that we... that you and me..."

Elena hushed him by touching his lips with her fingers. "Don't... don't say it..."

Elena then, decided, stepped towards him and pulled him into a kiss with all of her might.

"Don't believe for one minute, Stefan, that there could be a time and place, where I couldn't love you. It was never that. I know that I believed that I fell in love with Damon, but my feelings for you... I could never shut that off completely... no matter how hard that I tried, no matter how easier it would have been, to let go of the heartbreak... the pain I caused you... I could never shut it off entirely... even when I had no emotions, I still felt the love I had for you...it haunted me. A reminder of what I screwed up, of what I lost...I held onto it, because without it, that last glimmer of what we once were... I had nothing left...didn't you ever notice how crazy it drove me to see you with anyone else?" Elena added lastly, trying to smile.

"But you had Damon. You believed that you were in love with him."

"Yeah, but that was because I convinced myself that I could never go back after what I did. I could never expect you to forgive me after what I did... So I never questioned it with Damon. It was why I was going to tell him tonight that I was in love with him, and I wanted to be with him. I was ready to close the door on us, Stefan., because I saw no other option. But now..."

"You have hundreds of options, Elena," He whispered to her.

Stefan enjoyed the feeling of Elena pulling him close again, and she held him tight. "I never want to lose this again..."

He was certain who said that, him or her. Stefan smiled.

"I'll always love you, Elena. No matter who, or what, you choose."

Elena beamed happily into his chest. "I have to talk to him." She then said. Regret was in her voice.

"Damon," said Stefan, begrudgingly agreeing. "I'll be near by." Stefan promised.

Elena nodded, hating how that conversation will go. First and foremost, once, Damon had been a good friend. But his choices had ruined that for them, every time. And knowing he'd been so willing to sacrifice her happiness for the sake of his own... Elena knew that she was finally on the right course with Stefan. Damon, no matter what, could never become a threat to them again.

"Damon can wait until tomorrow..." Elena whispered, falling into a kiss.

"Or the next," said Stefan happily. He lead Elena outside so they could watch the sun rise together. More, for them, could wait. The best things were always worth the wait.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey," Elena started uneasily, stepping inside the Salvatore mansion, again the next day.

Damon let her come inside, his face expressionless. "So, you want me to get Stefan?" He offered weakly. He watched her carefully, not knowing what to expect.

"Damon, we should talk about what happened..." Elena tried again.

"Why?" Damon snapped back. "I already know that I lost you, and that you know that I lied to you to keep you. I did really bad, selfish things. I know it, Elena. I did them all to get more time with you. I knew that I'd never get to be with you, if you knew that it was the sire bond, so I lied. I lied to be with the girl I love, and the girl who loved me back. "

Damon tried to hold onto her by her arms, but Elena stepped away. "You loved me. You felt it, Elena. You can't deny that."

"I did," Elena admitted shakily. "But you betrayed me by lying to me, by taking away my choices. You never gave me the chance, to try and see, if I really did love you, Damon. You just made me believe your lie. I can't live that way, Damon. I so believed that I was in love with you. It broke my heart to hear what you did. It took everything away, Damon. Any feeling that was really mine, for you, it's gone," Elena finished in a whisper.

"So, I take it, you and little brother, will be riding off into the sunset together?" Damon sneered at her. "Now that I'm out of the way..."

"No," Elena replied, stunning Damon slightly. "I think I might go to college, like I was going too. Or, maybe I'll go on a trip with Caroline and Bonnie first. See the world, a bit. Will Stefan be apart of my plans after that? I honestly don't know. I have always loved him, Damon. You know that. But things are harder than they used to be. I'm getting older...I have choices now..." Elena finished boldly.

"Yeah, I get it. So you're going to choose becoming an old woman, bunch of little grand rug-rats running around at your feet...Stefan can't be in that kind of picture, Elena," Damon reminded her cruelly. "You want that life, more than anything. But he'll never fit in those perfect little plans, Elena."

Elena frowned back at Damon, the fight in her gone. "You're right, Damon. He won't. But neither will you."

Elena then exited the house, not looking back. Her perfect day with Stefan still filled her thoughts, making her smile through the pain that Damon had caused her. They hadn't gone to bed together, but just being together, being with him again, had been everything to her.

They still had their time to be together yet. There was the summer. After that, could wait.

Elena returned to Caroline's house, where she had stayed the last couple of days. She paused upon seeing Stefan and Caroline standing outside, already waiting for her.

Caroline was crying. Elena looked to Stefan sharply, hating the bad feeling she was getting. "What is it, Stefan?" She asked softly.

He then said the worst thing possible to her, and Elena's world shattered around her. "Bonnie!" She cried aloud. Stefan forced her against him, into a fierce embrace. "I've got you," He told her. "I'm here."

* * *

The summer past by quickly. Her brother had decided to go to summer school and resume school in the fall. Jeremy said that was what Bonnie would want him to do. Get on with his life, no matter how hard things might get to be.

Elena wished that she had Jeremy's good sense of direction with her own life. She had spent a lot of the summer with Stefan. It was great just having that time, getting to know each other again.

They hadn't officially begun dating yet. Elena had tried to bring in up a couple of times, but Stefan reminded her of their agreement to have fun, and place no restrictions on their new closeness. Not until she knew what she was going to do with the rest of her life.

Elena had decided to go to Whitmore college, and Caroline had chosen to skip town for some late summer fun in New Orleans. Elena declined, refusing to ever party with Klaus. Like ever. If that was Caroline's thing, Elena was okay with that. Caroline had been so down since things fell apart with Tyler. If Klaus was the one that could make her smile again, Elena would accept that, for Caroline.

If Caroline could begrudgingly accept her now former relationship with Damon, given their _very messy history_, Elena knew she had no right to judge her friend on her romantic choices.

Stefan didn't see her off to Whitmore, sticking to their agreement that what ever they had again, would be for the summer only, before they considered anything else. Elena wanted to consider what that _anything else _could be. She hoped he did too.

Caroline somehow convinced Matt to apply for Whitmore, which he declined going to when he realized that Caroline compelled his way into getting accepted. With some pushing, and after an adventurous summer for him with Rebekah, Matt changed his mind about college. It was fun having both Caroline and Matt here.

Elena feared awkwardness for them given their history, but Matt and Caroline seemed to make their friendship work. Matt started dating someone else, a few months into term. Caroline started seeing someone new as well. His name was Jesse, and Caroline liked him instantly. Elena dared not to ask what happened to her summer romance with Klaus.

Matt told her that Klaus wanted Caroline to stay in New Orleans, permanently. Things got ugly when Caroline refused that level of commitment with the hybrid. She just wasn't ready to give up her more simpler dreams of going to college, meeting new people, and maybe falling in love_ a few more times_ before going for happily ever after.

Elena wanted her own _happily ever after, right now_. Which was _hard_, considering the guy she wanted it with, was taking his time returning her phone calls.

They were almost at the first school break when Elena learned from Caroline that Stefan wasn't even home. He'd gone on a road trip with Damon. _And Lexi_.

Apparently, when the other side was closed again, a few people remained behind. Elena got the surprise of her life when she called the Salvatore mansion. _Alaric _answered the phone, a thousand apologizes at the ready when he remembered he hadn't gotten around to telling her he was back from the dead.

He said Damon had been a mess after the _big break up_, but he managed to help him keep his head on strait. Elena explained her side of things. She just couldn't get past Damon's willingness for deception to get his own way. And she would always care about Damon. After getting past her anger, Elena still had a soft spot for the older Salvatore, but she knew now that she was never really in love with him.

When six months had passed, Elena began to wonder if Stefan was ever returning to Mystic Falls. Damon, _too_, for that matter. Both brothers had been living somewhere in New York.

Matt's relationship with his new girlfriend had soon imploded. Rebekah had paid him a visit, _and well,_ that was that for the new girl. _Kelly_, Elena believed her name was. Rebekah didn't stay in Mystic Falls though, and told Matt that he could come to _New Orleans_ any time to see her.

There was a guy that caught Elena's attention. His name was _Ben_. He had brown hair, brown eyes and a stunning smile. He was warm, funny, intelligent. Elena began to feel something for him, but she couldn't say what it was exactly. Soon believing that Stefan had given up on being with her, or even trying to see if there was anything left between them, Elena finally agreed to a date with Ben.

One date soon turned into four, and Elena was soon left hating herself for wanting to spend time with Ben. She had no idea what became of Stefan, or what brought on his decision to up and leave town, _leave her_, and for so long. Just when they had started to grow closer again, just when they had started to fall in love, _all over again._

Elena longed for answers from Stefan. She would forgive it all, if he'd only come back to her.

Two months into her relationship with Ben, Elena felt as if the wind was knocked out of her. Just out of the blue one day, there he was.

Accept, it wasn't him. It was _Damon_. Elena felt her heart shatter into a thousand shards when she seen the dark haired guy in a dark jacket, waiting for her outside her dorm room, wasn't Stefan.

"Where is he, Damon?" Elena insisted coolly, cutting to the chase.

"What, no hello for an _old boyfriend_?" Damon teased mockingly.

"Damon," Elena nearly snarled.

"He sent me,_ Elena_. Stefan wanted to know how you're doing, but he didn't want to come here himself. He felt it wouldn't be appropriate, well, given you got yourself _a new guy_ and all..." Damon shot back.

"Leave _Ben_ alone," Elena snapped back. "He's been there when Stefan hasn't been for me."

Elena then eyed Damon carefully. "He's back, _isn't he_?" Elena then accused darkly.

"Stefan came back with Lexi last month, Elena. I just nicely rolled in when little brother asked me this favour."

"_Last month_?" Elena whispered.

"He came here, you know. Saw you out with _what's his face_."

"Don't," Elena bit back, fighting not to cry. "How dare he decide that I move on without him... I get to make that choice too..."

"Elena, _leave it alone_. Stefan doesn't want to get back together with you. He doesn't want _to see you_."

"No," Elena cried. "Dammit, where's your car, Damon?"

"You have _someone new_, Elena. Someone that you care about..."

"I don't care!" Elena screamed, tears falling down her face.

"Stefan wants that for you. That life. A life that he can't give you... He wants you _to get married_, Elena. Be a _mom_," Damon shouted back.

"_Damn him_!" Elena cried, shaking.

"_Elena_, is something wrong?"

It was Ben. Elena tossed herself into his arms, crying. She then gasped, pulling back from him when she remembered that Damon was still there. But he was gone, right out of thin air. Had she imagined it?


	3. Chapter 3

Elena fought the urge to follow Damon back to Mystic Falls to confront Stefan. She felt utterly heartbroken that Stefan was so decided in giving up on them being together again.

Elena knew that she'd never be able to have many things with Stefan when it came to considering a future together. There would be no getting married, having a family. There would be no growing old together. Stefan would forever remain exactly the same, while she eventually got older, began to age.

Eventually the differences would become noticeable to others around them too. They couldn't remain together in Mystic Falls for the rest of her life, that was for certain.

After more months passed, Elena slowly began to see why Stefan had completely removed himself from her life. As much as he had longed to see her become human again, to have the girl he loved back again, Stefan wanted to give her a chance to have the life she was supposed to have. One that was filled with college, new friends, new life experiences. He wanted her to have the chance to choose the next course her life would take, one free of the burden that might come with their relationship.

Elena finally found the courage to go home, after accepting the fact that she might not see Stefan. She eventually told her new boyfriend Ben as much as she could about Stefan. Elena also confessed that she was still very much in love with Stefan, but he didn't want to be with her anymore. Ben had tried to take it well, knowing his girlfriend was in love with another guy. He even offered to let her take her time and choose what she wanted to do before they ended things between them.

Elena was tempted to stay with Ben. She could have the life she longed for with him, and be very happy. He was such a good, decent guy. But she ended their relationship before going back home, after almost a year of dating. She felt sad, but not because she regretted her decision to let him go. Elena felt sad because she still wanted just one guy, and he might not ever want to be with her again, believing himself to be too much a burden on her new life as a human.

She returned home, to Alaric's new house. He noticed Ben's absence, but thankfully understood why he wasn't with her, without having to ask. Elena winced slightly upon noticing one of their guests for dinner would be Damon. She was stunned into silence for a few minutes when she realized that Damon wasn't alone in the living room. A stunning blonde woman was at his side, a new vampire. Her name was Jane. She was no plain Jane, that was for sure. Jane seemed to be happy with Damon, and Damon seemed to enjoy having a new girlfriend in his life. If it would last, remained to be seen. Elena didn't ask Damon about Stefan, remembering their last, brutal conversation.

After dinner was over, Elena excused herself, and set out to go find the one who had been haunting her thoughts for so long.

If he wouldn't have her, fine. Elena would just have to accept it, and move on. She couldn't put her life on hold anymore.

Elena, decided, opened up the front door to the Salvatore house. Too afraid to give Stefan the chance to ignore her knock.

She found him sitting in the living room, with Elijah.

Elena felt thrown at the sight of the original. She hadn't expected to ever see him again. Not after he had taken it upon himself, making the decision for her that she was going to take the cure.

"Elijah..." She said softly. So many feelings were overcoming Elena.

"Elena," He said. The original stood up, adjusting his suit jacket. "I must say, humanity is bewitching on you, as always."

Elena smirked at that. She didn't hate him, she decided. If he hadn't done it, bottom line, she'd still be kidding herself with Damon. At least, this way, she had the freedom to make her own decisions, free of that sire bond. "As much as we likely need to have a conversation or two, about that cure, and all, I would appreciate it if I could have Stefan, for a few minutes."

Stefan immediately had that deer caught in the headlights look, but said nothing. Would he let her at least ask her questions, before he shut her out again?

"Of course," replied Elijah easily. The original moved to leave. "I will see you later, Elena." Elijah was then gone.

"Stefan..." Elena started first, but stopped. She couldn't believe it. He was here, right in front of her. But she had no idea how to begin.

"I know you want answers..." Stefan said, picking up the conversation first. "I can only say, Elena, I did it for you... so you wouldn't have to have one of those conversations with a new classmate to explain why your boyfriend looks so young. Or in a few years, lie to people even more about our relationship. You shouldn't have to do that, Elena."

"Who said I'd have to lie, Stefan? I'm nineteen, almost twenty... I'm not that much older than I was before..."

"We don't even need to have this conversation. You're with someone anyway... you won't need to worry, about any of this..."

"Stefan, I'm not with Ben anymore," Elena stated simply, cutting him off. Stefan looked stunned, then worried for her. "It's hard to be with someone, when you don't love them... I don't care how right he might have been for me... he wasn't you, so he wasn't the right guy, Stefan. Just like Damon wasn't the right one. What do I have to go through, to prove to you, that we can be together?"

"Elena... you deserve things, things you'll never have with me..." Stefan whispered softly, heart-brokenly.

"Like what, Stefan? Happiness, joy? I know you can give me that... all of it... I haven't felt those things, not like I should, since we broke up, Stefan..." Elena countered.

Elena reached for his hands and held them firmly. She smiled when Stefan didn't pull away. "I know that we haven't been together for a long time. Maybe I rushed things before, but Stefan, I know that I want this. I want to be with you, because I'm in love with you. I don't think that ever really stopped, Stefan. The feelings, were always there, beneath the surface. Now, there's nothing stopping us, Stefan."

Stefan still had hesitation, which was silenced, when he gave in and kissed her, long and hard. He pulled away first. "I love you, Elena. I don't know how to stop. I just don't want you to wake up one day, and regret your decision."

"I could never regret being with you, Stefan. I love you..."

"Then we have no reason not to pursue this," Stefan replied softly, giving in. He kissed her again. "Us..." They made love until the sun came up the next day.

* * *

Two years passed, and Elena graduated college. She got a job writing for the newspaper office in Mystic Falls, and moved into her own house with Stefan. They knew the time was coming soon, the time where they'd have to make plans to leave and start life over again.

Elena was looking every bit her twenty-two years, and Stefan hadn't aged a day, since she met him at the age of seventeen. But she truly didn't care. She was living a happy, peaceful life, with the true love of her life. They could blissfully forget the problems that were going to come.

Damon, even, stayed at a polite distance away from them, letting her have the life with Stefan she always dreamed of. Jane was no longer in the picture for him, but Damon was content being Damon. Elena was happy that he seemed to find the peace that always seemed to escape him.

One day, however, she came home, hearing a conversation that filled her up with dread. Damon, telling Stefan, that the time was coming where he was going to have to break things off, for good. The only other choice was for her to take on something that she could not handle before. Elena can't be a vampire. He had said. Stefan agreed with heavy reluctance. Was he going to leave her? Just give up? After all this time, he was going to just walk away from her?

Elena hurried upstairs, crying. She didn't think the tears would ever stop this time.

* * *

Stefan heard Elena go upstairs and he immediately told Damon goodnight. She had heard them talking, he realized. Damon tried to say it was for the best that she knew right away. Stefan couldn't say any of this felt right at all.

Elena had been fighting him with his reservations about them being together again, since she broke up with Damon. It wasn't that Stefan didn't trust her when she said that what she had shared with Damon had been result of the sire bond. He held no worries that Elena would be with him, to only change her mind, and want Damon after all. Damon had not been an issue in their new relationship. Not even once. Damon had been to their home, countless times now, for family dinners, and to just plain annoy them from time to time. They had all managed to move past, what was now the past.

Stefan was thankful for that, because it meant that he could still have his brother in his life, and he could still be with Elena. He did not have to choose between one, or the other.

But years had now past since Stefan reunited with Elena. They had fought so hard for that unattainable life, where they could be together, and be happy. And maybe enjoy a piece of that future that wasn't meant for them to have. They had the house, but there would be no children. They had each other, but Elena couldn't get married to a guy that had been dead for over 150 years. And she promised she was okay, with all of that. They would take what they could have.

But she would give those longing looks to mothers with babies they past on the side walk. To new husbands and wives, and to those who had been married for decades, and were still in love with each other. And, Elena had to endure questions from those who couldn't help but remark on how young her boyfriend looked. The look of unhappiness she would get would just kill Stefan inside. Elena deserved better, she deserved more.

"Are you leaving me?" She whispered, after realizing he was standing in the doorway to their bedroom.

Stefan hesitated, knowing that for her own good, he should say yes. But his heart threatened to break before he could even answer her. "I should,_ but I don't want too_," Stefan confessed softly.

"Then don't," Elena said pleadingly. She got up and stood in front of him. "Stop feeling guilty for loving me, wanting to be with me, Stefan. Please? We'll make it all work," Elena then promised between kisses.

Stefan gave in, trying to forget everything that could threaten to tare them apart. Forget everything about their relationship that could potentially hurt Elena down the road. They had each other. That could be everything they needed.

* * *

A year later, Elijah contacted Stefan again. Apparently he heard that the old witch coven they had discussed the year previous was on the move, and they wanted to use Elena, the doppelganger, for a spell that would bring back their old leader. One man witch who lived hundreds of years ago.

The interesting twist was who this leader was. Apparently the male witch looked exactly like Stefan. Stefan enquired if that made him a doppelganger too. Elijah said no. Stefan and Damon were actually the descendants of the male witch, explaining the resemblance Stefan had to him. Stefan wondered why they heard of no one in their family having any magical abilities if they were related to one. Elijah explained that the magic in their family died with the death of the male witch, Silas, who had taken it all with him, leaving none for what family had remained.

Casting such a powerful spell, it sealed Silas to live on the other side, forever. But now, his old coven wants him back, believing the male witch to have the power to cast a spell, allowing them to finally live in one place, free of the dark magic that has hunted them since Silas died, forcing them to travel from place to place, never staying still for long. If they tried to settle in one place, for too long, the dark magic would come to take them away to live in the void between the other side and the land of the living. A void where one died a death that lasted decades before you knew peace.

What convinced Stefan to help Elijah was what Elijah told Stefan that Silas was capable of doing. It would be the answer to his long sought prayer.

Silas had the power to make an immortal human. He'd been the one that invented the cure that Elena had taken. Silas could make him human again.


	4. Chapter 4

Stefan decided to tell Elena that he was going on a trip with Damon, and he would return as soon as he could. He just didn't know when that was going to be.

They first had to find the coven that was seeking Silas's return. Stefan didn't want to wait for them to make the first move. He wanted the chance to prepare Elena for what might be coming. He'd promised her that happy, free of monsters in the night, kind of life. The last thing he wanted to put her through was another ritual, another sacrifice. Even if they might get all of their dreams to come true as the result. Stefan decided that he would leave it up to her to choose what she wanted to do, although he suspected that this witch coven might not take no for an answer.

"So you are leaving," Elena said, sitting in the living room on their sofa as he told her the news. Her voice was soft, distant. She did not trust his promise that he'd return to her.

"And I'll be returning home, to you, Elena," Stefan said in return. He bent down to her, cupping her face in his hands before kissing her. "I love you. If this works out, Elena, I might be able to become human too. We could have that life, the one you should have, together."

"We do have that life, Stefan," Elena reminded him. She returned his kiss. "I believe it when you say you love me, but I don't think what we have now, will ever be enough for you. You believe that I need this. Well, I don't, Stefan. I just need you."

"I've seen the looks you give new mothers with their babies, Elena," Stefan countered softly. "I know you deny it. You say that you don't need that. But Elena, you want that life. I know you. You've told me so many times of how you dreamed of having your own kids. Being with me, being with a vampire, means that's never going to happen, Elena. And you should have that chance, because I know you. I know you'd be the most amazing mother. And I want to do whatever it takes to give that to you, to share in that life with you. Can't you understand that?" Stefan pleaded.

Elena studied his face, before pulling him closer. "Well, if you and Damon are going to go chasing after Elijah and these witches, I want something too. I want to know that I have every reason in the world to wait for you, Stefan."

Not quite understanding, Stefan waited for her to explain. Elena then stood up, before getting down on one knee. She pulled a man's silver ring from her pocket. Stefan gasped in shock when he realized what she was going to do next.

"I want you to know that I have always loved you, Stefan Salvatore. There were times when I lost my way, when I lost myself, but something always told me to never quite let go. I never want to let go, Stefan, of what we share. No matter what happens, no matter how long we live for, I never want to let go of us."

Elena then carefully placed the silver engagement ring on Stefan's finger. He chuckled happily, with tears in his eyes. "_No matter what_, Stefan. Promise me that we're going to let nothing stop us. Either_ as a vampire_, or as a human."

"I won't give up on us, Elena," Stefan promised her softly, lost to the moment.

"Marry me, Stefan. When this is over, marry me?" Elena said, her voice a quiet plea. "I want to be happy, Stefan, and I want to be with you, for the rest of my life. I won't be happy, unless we're together. We've been there, and we just don't work, while apart."

Stefan smiled sadly, remembering their long separation, remembering when the love of his life was convinced that she was in love with his own brother. There had been no one of real significance after he lost Elena, and Elena had said that she had been kidding herself with Damon. There had been genuine affection, Stefan believed, between Damon and Elena. At times, even a real flirtation. But it had never went further for Elena. The sire bond had worked to change that, manipulating that genuine affection Elena had felt into something more intense for his brother. And Damon had taken full advantage of the change, encouraging Elena on, trying to mask how _over night_ those new feelings had come.

Had Damon been sincere on his part? Had Damon really loved Elena? Or had it just been Damon's way of getting an old revenge against his brother? Jumping at the chance to hurt Stefan the same way that Stefan had hurt him with Katherine? Stefan honestly didn't know, and for the sake of his relationship with his brother, he tried not to think too much about the time that Damon and Elena had been together, while he'd been forced to observe it all.

Elena touched Stefan's face. "No going back into the past on me, Stefan," She said with a sad smile of her own. He smiled back, appreciating how well she knew him. "Well, will you marry me, or what?" She asked, her voice a bit nervous.

Stefan smiled again, fighting tears. "This won't be easy, Elena. I don't know if we can even do this legally..."

"We'll get Damon's permission, if we must," Elena replied, her eyes dancing, trying to be light in the moment. "And if we can't anyway, then lets just do it. Just you and me. I don't need a "legal" wedding, Stefan, but I want to be married_ to you._"

Stefan, after a long silence, nodded in agreement. "Well, then, Miss Gilbert. I accept your proposal of marriage," Stefan said, ever so softly. Elena stared at him in disbelief, and then utter joy. "I thought I'd have to fight harder for you," She admitted, laughing, before kissing him.

Stefan and Elena settled back onto their sofa, enjoying the moment. They were engaged, they were together, and to hell with anyone, who didn't believe that a vampire and a mortal, could be together.

* * *

Stefan looked at the picture on wall, inside the study that Elijah had directed him to inside his family's home in Mystic Falls. It was a painting, which held a familiar face, and familiar brown eyes, staring back, seemingly alive. The face was just that striking, showing the woman in all her beauty.

"I never seen this before," Stefan began, intrigued. "This is _Katherine_," Stefan then said, believing he was stating the obvious. There was no way in hell the subject of the painting had been Elena. The painting looked too damned old.

"No," replied Elijah, surprising Stefan. "The woman in the painting was the first _Petrova _that crossed my family's path. I believe I told you about her once."

"Tatia," Stefan supplied.

Stefan looked back to the painting, now noticing what made it obvious that the woman hadn't been Katherine. This woman basked in life itself, where Katherine was it's darkness. "She had been human," Stefan continued, surprising himself for realizing it.

"To her death," Elijah supplied softly. "My family never once considered making Tatia like us. She was too...beautiful as she had been. It would have been a crime to make her a vampire."

"Like Elena..." Stefan whispered, understanding something about the original before him.

Elijah sighed softly, understanding the unspoken accusation. Instead of denying any of his reasons for giving Elena the cure, against her will, Elijah simply agreed with Stefan. "Yes."

"I wanted you to see this, Stefan. I want to tell you the rest of the story about Tatia as well."

Stefan looked at Elijah expectantly.

"Tatia had a child, very young. She had been forced into a marriage by her family, baring a child to a wealthy man. The man died soon after the birth of their daughter, leaving Tatia free of her undesired union. Free to marry the man she had wanted, all along. His name was Silas."

Stefan felt stunned by this information. So his ancestor had been in love with the first Petrova? The apple didn't fall far from the tree, that was for sure.

"When my family first met Tatia, she was married to Silas, and they lived in our village with her young daughter."

"So, _you and Klaus_, _chased after another man's wife_? You failed to mention that one before," Stefan pointed out sarcastically.

"We were different then, Stefan. _I_ was different. We took what we wanted, when we wanted it. We both did terrible things, my brother and myself, in the name of capturing Tatia's love from Silas. "

"Were you responsible for his death?"

Elijah paused, and Stefan noticed that he flinched at the question. "Actually, I wasn't responsible. At least, not directly. My sister killed Silas, or tried too. He eventually died from his wounds, after casting a spell that bound him to the other side, taking all the magic of your family with him. Silas believed that he was the most powerful witch in history, and could eventually find a way to come back from the dead. Back to Tatia, his _beloved_."

"How does Rebekah fit into all of this..."

"Rebekah seduced Silas into becoming her lover, offering him immortality. She was in love, and wanted him for herself,_ away from Tatia_. She lied to him, saying that Tatia was unfaithful with my brother, _and with myself_. Rebekah used compulsion to convince Silas of this. And for a time, it worked. Silas left Tatia for my sister, and my brother and myself d_id everything _we could to get Tatia for ourselves. Tatia accepted the advances of my brother, ultimately rejecting my offer to marry her, causing a rift between Niklaus, and myself, that would last decades after her death."

"Tatia rejected_ you, for your brother?_" Stefan sounded dumbstruck, but amused as well.

"Tatia said that _she loved once, and she loved great,_ and that was all that she could do in this life. Being with Niklaus, gave her the freedom she wanted. To be with someone, and not have the expectation of _more._"

Stefan paused, thinking of when Elena had been with Damon. There had been times when he had wondered if that was why she had chosen to be with his brother. Perhaps being with Damon instead of himself had been easier for her to deal with. Damon had known how to help her when he hadn't. Stefan shook off those old feelings, reminding himself that years had passed since then, and Elena had been back with himself for a long while now. They were engaged, and hell or high water, Elena was determined to marry him, no matter what.

Stefan, thinking of her never waving devotion, was inspired to give her the same. Perhaps they were meant to be, despite the terrible odds. One of those odds, being time itself.

"Elena isn't Tatia, Elijah. _She knows who she wants_." His tone was rather icy, and Stefan did not care. He had no idea where Elijah was going with this story, and he didn't care for the romantic history the originals had with not only Elena's family, but his as well. Elena would not be something that Elijah could just step in and snap up for his own.

Elijah eyed Stefan carefully, seeing the anger his story had risen in Stefan. "My relationship with _Elena_ has never been one to cross any inappropriate boundaries, I assure you. I care about her, Stefan, _but no more then that." _

"_Good_," Stefan replied sharply.

"I think I should call it a night, _Stefan_. Good night," Elijah finished, before vanishing from sight.

* * *

Elijah's nearly obvious feelings for Elena had always unnerved Stefan, but more so last night, more than any other time before. The story of Tatia, made Stefan believe that Elijah would take the same opportunity with Elena if the chance presented itself.

It was the reason why the original had forced the cure down Elena's throat. Elijah wanted Elena to be as she had been before, because of who she reminded him of. _The woman who he had loved_. When Elijah saw Elena, he seen Tatia alive again before him.

It infuriated Stefan that Elijah had feelings for Elena, and based on the fact that he'd been in love with the woman who first bore _the same face, the same eyes_. The woman who hadn't loved him back, but he pursued her anyway. She had been married, and Elijah hadn't cared. Tatia had become Klaus's lover, but he still hadn't cared if it meant that he could have her.

There had been Katherine for him, many centuries later. Again, that girl, that face. Stefan knew it was hypocritical of him, but he couldn't help but feel protective of Elena. He knew what it was like to lose her, and Stefan knew that he couldn't go through that again.

Stefan went home, and told Elena of the real story of Tatia and Silas. He told her how the originals tore them apart for their own amusements. Elena was unnerved by the story as well. But she reminded him that she was not Tatia, and she certainly wasn't Katherine. She may be their doppelganger, but Elena never loved Elijah, and she wouldn't ever look twice at his brother. Stefan chuckled at that, and then finally took the simple pleasure of being in Elena's presence. Soon they were asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

"Morning, lovebirds," Damon said in a sickeningly sweet, sing song voice, while Elena opened the front door to her house she shared with Stefan.

Damon never stepped inside though until Elena said that he could come in. It was one of the new things that Damon adopted, that were apart of who he was now. He still had the same humour, but he knew how to show respect, where he didn't before. It was one of the new qualities about Damon that made Elena be able to think of him as a friend again. Damon was always going to be Stefan's brother, so it felt important to Elena to be able to move past what was now the past.

Stefan needed to have Damon in his life, and Damon also needed his brother. Elena decided long ago now that she could never do anything again that might threaten that relationship. She loved Stefan too much to see him hurt again.

Elena felt so lucky to have that second chance with Stefan. It was a chance she never believed would be hers. It was why she had refused the cure originally, and decided that she was going to be with Damon, sire bond or no. Elena had let her guilt decide that she had no right to still love Stefan, so she hadn't, and set herself to being with the other brother, who had promised her his love.

Had she come to fall in love with Damon despite the sire bond? Elena believed that she could have come to love Damon in time, but she hadn't been really in love with him. She had forced herself to try though, and it left her with living a lie with Damon.

Thankfully, she had an interfering, busy-body friend that decided to save her from making one of the biggest mistakes of her life. Choosing Damon, again, would have destroyed anything left for herself and Stefan. Elena loved the life she had with Stefan now, despite it's imperfections. They had a house, they had a car, they even had a cat. But lately, Elena felt it slipping away from them, and it frightened her.

Losing Stefan the last time had been hard enough. They just had grown apart when she had become a vampire, and there had looked to be no way back. Elena couldn't lose him again. She didn't care if she had to fight time itself.

Becoming a vampire again was out of the question. She just lost herself when that happened, and Elena couldn't put herself and Stefan through that again. And Stefan becoming human again, might actually be a possibility. Her heart soared at all the possibilities when thinking about it. She didn't want to give into that excitement too much for fear it wouldn't happen.

Either way, she was with Stefan, for the long haul. Elena wanted no more mistakes, no more thinking that Stefan wasn't the right guy for her, because he simply was. Being with Damon only strengthened that belief she had that Stefan was the one for her. It had been a lesson learned, and a hard one. Stefan still had his doubts in his darkest hours, but his belief in her love for him was there.

Stefan didn't think that she would go back to Damon, but he doubted that he was the best thing for her, now that she was human again.

Elena would return to being a vampire again, if there was a guarantee that she wouldn't lose herself in the process. She became entirely different as a vampire, and it had been a never ending nightmare. A reality where she believed that she didn't love Stefan anymore, wasn't a reality that Elena wanted.

Damon and Stefan readied for their trip, to parts unknown. Stefan promised to contact her soon. Elena let him go with a sense of foreboding. Damon promised her that he'd take care of his little brother, but Elena couldn't fight the bad feeling she had as she watched them go.

* * *

"Why couldn't he just be happy with things as they are?" Elena complained aloud to Alaric.

Her former guardian smiled affectionately at Elena. "You know why, Elena. He loves you too much to limit your life so much."

Elena watched Alaric as he left her kitchen. She wondered briefly if Alaric was keeping something from her.

* * *

A month passed, and Elena finally heard from Stefan. Damon and him had gone to New York to track a witch. There they had run into Klaus who threatened them if they pursued this further. Elena then begged Stefan to come home. He refused. The only way he'd see her again was if he was human.

Elena feared that Stefan's dream to be human with her might come at a very high price.

* * *

"Damon, you think this is it?" Stefan asked into the darkness.

Damon walked up to the stone statue at was shaped like a man, deep inside the caves they had entered, over an hour ago. It bore a very familiar face. Damon then noticed a cup in the statue's hand. "Oh, I think things are about to get messy, brother. In order to wake this guy up, he's going to need a drink."

Stefan paused at that, briefly hesitating, briefly thinking that maybe Elena had been right. Perhaps he should have tried to accept their life together as it was. But then his hesitation died, when he couldn't help but picture Elena, holding a newborn baby in her arms. Their own little baby. Maybe they'd even have two. "Do it," Stefan said suddenly, urging Damon.

"What if it doesn't work, Stefan?" Damon asked lastly, his voice slightly pained. "What if this was all for nothing, and you die? I can't go back there without you, Stefan. I can't do that to her..."

"Do it," Stefan insisted. "It's going to be alright."

Damon nodded, eyes blazing. He then suddenly moved at vampire speed, snatching up his brother, and soundly breaking his neck. Damon then moved his brothers body over to the statue, and let Silas drink from Stefan's wrist.

The blood of the living dead, would help Silas rise again. Elijah had told them last week in New York. The original had known what they were up too, but believed that they wouldn't be able to wake Silas without the aide of a witch. Damon guessed they were about to prove the original wrong.

Damon eased Stefan's body to the ground when Silas released him. Within seconds, Damon watched stone turn to flesh. Silas was coming to life. Decided that it might not be best to stick around, Damon gathered Stefan up and hurried with his brothers body from the caves.

If Stefan hated him for getting out of there, before he could awaken, and talk to the dead, now undead witch, Damon didn't care. At least his brother would still be alive to do it. And he wouldn't be breaking the promise he'd sworn to Elena. He would look out for Stefan, and make sure he came back to her. After all the crap Elena had been through since he'd known her, many things he himself had been responsible for, he owed her a simple request.

"_Damon, I know that maybe I don't have a right to ask this from you. But, for him... I love him, Damon. I don't care if we don't get the dream of the perfect family, because if he's not there at all, none of my dreams can ever come true...I can't lose him... Please, keep him safe..."_

Damon blinked away the memory, and his own heartbreak that threatened to sneak in. The pain in her voice, when she thought she might lose his brother, if this doesn't work out...There was a part of him that was still in love with Elena, and he knew now, that he was never going to get between her and Stefan, again. A sire bond had put a dent in that relationship, and Damon knew that would forever be the closest he'd ever come to getting Elena away from Stefan.

Stefan and Elena had found each other again, after Elena had consumed the cure for vampirism. It had changed her, changed her back into that girl that could never think twice about hurting Stefan, or ever consider that any guy existed in the world, but for his brother. Damon, in his darkest moments, had to admit that he had come to miss that girl. Even if she would never be his again.

The Elena that had fallen in love with him, Damon knew, should have never existed to begin with. Elena Gilbert was never meant to be a vampire, and she was meant to be the girl that his brother loved. It was that realization that made Damon want to make sure that Stefan returned home to Elena.

Even if it came down to stopping him from going too far. Even if he had to stop Stefan from obtaining that perfect dream. Maybe Stefan would someday see that Elena already had her perfect dream. A life, with him.

Stefan then surprised Damon. He woke up.

Damon's eyes then soon filled up with tears. He had another realization. Damon was listening to the beating sound of Stefan's heart. Silas killing Stefan, the plan, it had all worked...

"You'll have it all, baby brother," Damon told Stefan softly.

Stefan opened his eyes and smiled.

* * *

Sixteen years later... Mystic Falls.

"I can't believe you moved back," Matt Donovan grinned.

Elena embraced her old friend. "Well, Stefan thought it was time, since, well..."

"He's finally starting to catch up," Matt finished for her, touching some grey hair on top of his head.

Elena laughed. "Yeah, Stefan isn't as baby faced as he was," She agreed.

"Hey, I may be a lowly human, but I can still hear," Stefan called out to her, while helping their children out of their car, in front of Matt's house.

Stefan gathered up their five-year-old daughter, Mary, into his arms. She was named after Stefan's mother, who had died when Stefan had been younger than their Mary. Their daughter shared Stefan's dark looks, with her eyes. Their eight-year-old son was next out of the car, named for the uncle he'd met only once in his life. Damon. Stefan had insisted on the name and Elena had agreed.

Their eldest child, thirteen today, was their son Grayson. He dreaded coming here. But he smiled when Matt's wife Karen, came out of the house, inviting him to have some ice cream.

Matt had met his wife in college, and they married after graduation. They had four kids of their own, with the eldest in college themselves now. Nineteen-year-old twin daughters, Jessica and Victoria. They were terrors as kids, but had apparently settled down now. The other two kids were fourteen-year-old Alex and ten-year-old Dylan. Both boys took after their dad in looks and for their love of sports.

"Who ever thought we'd have this," Matt joked to Elena.

"What's that?" Elena smiled.

"Real happiness," He said simply.

Elena had to admit that it really was. She had Stefan, they were married, and they had three beautiful children together. Her friends were happy too. Caroline had spent the last seventeen years in New Orleans, finding something unique with someone most unexpected. She was happy with her life though, holding no desire to ever be human again.

Elena was happy that Caroline had found peace with herself, and the confidence she had been lacking when they had been young. And Elena had to admit, it was Klaus that had helped Caroline find those things out about herself.

Bonnie and Jeremy had broken up, years ago. After so many stops and starts, the relationship had simply run it's course. It had hurt them both deeply to realize it.

Jeremy had moved to New York, ten years ago. He married a younger woman named Alice, and they had two children, Jack and Laura, both nicely into public school now.

Bonnie had recently been seeing someone most unexpected, _Alaric_. Bonnie had a marriage that failed last year, and Rick, and she, had bonded over that. Alaric was still a vampire, and Bonnie had returned to her witch abilities, a few years back, making the two one interesting pair. But somehow, their relationship worked.

Holding hands with Stefan, Elena entered Matt's home, completely happy with life.


End file.
